#need money so i can commission a piece

[redriotinggg]

if a generous artist out there would pleeeeease draw usopp for mermay i would be eternally grateful

[machineryangel]

portrait study also, i'm opening commissions bc i need help taking care of a rly sick kitten. she lives in my backyard and has severe URD & eye infection, i have no idea how much her treatment is going to cost. you can ask for me to draw a similar portrait for $20. since paypal and all the other usual payment options are unavailable in my country, i'd have to ask you to download the app 'wise' (previously transferwise) and make the payment via there. i also accept donations, bc of currency difference even $1 makes the world of difference. thank you <3

[circusthing]

me, seeing art of a hairy male character: hmm, almost there, make him fatter

[satorisoup]

UWAHHH good morning friends & happy sunday !!ヾ(>∀<*) i’m wishing all of you the bestest day EVA & please remember to stay hydrated in this hot weather !! MWUUUAH !! <3 🍓

[shymaidxn]

~✿ A Brave Flower of Fate ✿~

♪ Thank you for everything You are our most favorite treasure All together now! "We love you!" ♪

independent, private / mutuals-only, canon-divergent rp blog for diantha from granblue fantasy. sung by kitkatty promo and icons by @demonxserin

carrd | multimuse blog | meme sideblog

[missazura]

I can't wait to get a stable income man I want to get out of my hobo era so bad

[wedding-shemp]

How do you make $1650 in a month without being very good at anything in particular

[samaspic31]

I finally have a good printer I should make prints of my sw art

[chenziee]

I might actually open commissions.. had/will have a lot of unexpected expenses lately 😭

[crowlore]

feeling more like myself today so i'll try to do more than just lurk for the rest of the week

[maikaartwork]

Artists, let’s talk about Instagram commission scammers

There’s been a huge rise in commission scammers recently, mostly on Instagram. A lot of new artists don’t know what to look out for, so I figured this might help people.

How they begin

Usually the scammer will write to you asking about a commission. Something deceptively cute - mostly I encounter asks about pet portraits, with one or two photos sent. They’ll probably try to sell you a sweet little story, like “It’s for my son’s birthday”. They will insist that they love your artwork and style, even though they don’t follow you or never liked a single piece of your art.

What to look out for:

Their profiles will either be private, empty, or filled with very generic stuff, dating at most a few years back.

Their language will be very simple, rushed or downright bad. They might use weird emojis that nobody ever uses. They will probably send impatient “??” when you don’t answer immediately. They’re in a crunch - lots of people to scam, you know. 

They’ll give you absolutely no guidelines. No hints on style, contents aside from (usually) the pet and often a name written on the artwork, no theme. Anything you draw will be perfect. Full artistic freedom. In reality they don’t really care for this part.

They’ll offer you a ridiculous amount of money. Usually 100 or 300 USD (EDIT: I know it might not be a lot for some work. What I mean here - way higher than your asking price, 100 and 300 are standard rates they give). They’ll often put in a phrase like “I am willing to compensate you financially” and “I want the best you can draw”, peppered with vague praise. It will most likely sound way too good to be true. That’s because it is.

Where the scam actually happens

If you agree, they will ask you for a payment method. They’ll try to get to this part as soon as possible. 

Usually, they’ll insist on PayPal. And not just any PayPal. They’ll always insist on sending you a transfer immediately. None of that PayPal Invoice stuff (although some do have methods for that, too). They’ll really, REALLY want to get your PayPal email address and name for the transfer - that’s what they’re after. If you insist on any other method, they’ll just circle back to the transfer “for easiest method”. If you do provide them with the info, most likely you’ll soon get a scam email. It most likely be a message with a link that will ultimately lead to bleeding you dry. Never, and I mean NEVER click on any emails or links you get from them. It’s like with any other scam emails you can ever get.

A few things can happen here:

They overpay you and ask for the difference to be wired back. Usually it will go to a different account and you’ll never see that money again. 

They’ll overpay you “for shipping costs” and ask you to forward the difference to their shipping company. Just like before, you’ll never see that money again.

The actual owner of the account (yes, they most likely use stolen accounts to wire from) will realize there’s been something sketchy going on and request a refund via official channels. Your account will be charged with fees and/or you get in trouble for fraudulent transactions. 

You will transfer the money from your PayPal credit to your bank account and they will make a shitstorm when they want their money back, making your life a living hell. They will call you a scammer, a thief, make wild claims, wearing you down and forcing you into wiring money “back” - aka to their final destination account. 

Never, EVER wire money to anyone. This is not how it’s supposed to go. Use PayPal Invoice for secure exchanges where the client needs to provide you with their email, not the other way around.

You can find more info on that method HERE.

What to do when you encounter a scammer:

Ask the right questions: inquire about the style, which artwork of yours they like, as much details as you can. They won’t supply you with any good answers.

Don’t let the rush of the exchange, their praise and the promise of insanely good money to get to you. That’s how they operate, that’s how they make you lose vigilance. 

Don’t engage them. As soon as you realize it might be a scam, block them. The sense of urgency they create with their rushed exchange, and pressure they put on you will sooner or later get to you and you might do something that you’ll regret later.

Never wire money to anyone. Never give out your personal data. Never provide your email, name, address or credit card info. 

Don’t be deceived by receiving a payment, if you somehow agree to go along with it. Just because it’s there now doesn’t mean it can’t be withdrawn. 

Here is a very standard example of such an exchange. I realized it’s a scam pretty fast and went along with it, because I wanted good screenshots for you guys, so I tried going very “by the book” with it. 

Please share this post, make it reach as many artists as possible. Let young or inexperienced artists know that this is going on. So many people have no idea that this is a thing. Let’s help each other out. If you think I missed any relevant info, do add it as an rb!

Also, if you know other scam methods that you think should be shared, consider rb-ing this post with them below. Having a master post of scam protection would AWESOME to have in the art community.

[itwaslegendary]

Since I’m not seeing many posts about what’s happening in Venezuela, I will make one myself. Please do not turn a blind eye to their ongoing crisis.

First I will put you into context, please note that all this information is taken from posts, threads and statements made by Venezuelans so I will hyperlink each one of my sources.

From 2002 to 2013, Hugo Chávez was the president of Venezuela. Not only did he ruin the country’s economy, imprison people and remove liberty of speech in the country, but he also changed the constitution, allowing unlimited reelection. His regime became a dictatorship disguised as a democracy. Here’s an entire page about this period. (And you can read more searching “chavismo”)

After his death in 2013, Nicolás Maduro took the presidency. Venezuelans started protesting and, as a response, they were repressed and killed, universities were burned down and Venezuela became massively poor, people lacked basic needs (supermarkets were empty, increasing famine and malnutrition), hospitals lacked resources and, consequently, illnesses spread and infant mortality rates increased severely.

This Sunday, July 28th, 2024, elections were held and Venezuelans voted for Edmundo González to be the next president of the country. Exit polls expected him to win the elections.

Later, the revealed results were that Maduro had won with the 51,2% votes, while Edmundo González had only 44,2%. But, as of right now, already 75% of the electoral records confirm that Edmundo González was, in fact, the chosen candidate, meaning that Maduro once again cheated on the elections. This is electoral fraud. This is not a democracy, this is a dictatorship.

Now, Venezuelans are protesting and the government are once again repressing them. Civilians are being persecuted, attacked and killed. Innocent people are being arrested. The government is cutting their communication and are planning on cutting the electricity next.

I urge you to check this thread on Twitter by @/postmortemria. Her account is full of information about Venezuela and their crisis, please check her posts and share them to spread the voice. Try to raise Venezuelans’ voices and donate to them if you can.

At the moment, there aren’t many ways to help other than speaking up, but under this tweet you can find many talented artists and commissions are their way to make some money to pay for basic human needs. If you can, think about commissioning a piece or donating to them.

In addition, here’s another tweet with information to donate to the people affected in the protests. They’re in desperate need of assistance so anything can help.

[pinkhairswagtourney]

please consider helping a disabled queer person get their life back together

you've probably already seen a few of my posts floating around. in case you haven't, long story short; i lost my job several months ago and haven't been able to find another one willing to make accommodations for my disabilities. i have diabetes and need insulin every day to survive -- the price of that, along with my other medical necessities (medication, doctor copays, etc), makes simply existing very difficult. i've been relying on commission money and the generosity of others just to survive.

i am so tired of just surviving. i need serious help. i have a few very kind people willing to walk me through the process, but i desperately need out of my current living situation. it's a very toxic + abusive household that is stifling my ability to grow at all. i am in debt with no way to pay it off ($1,000) and i also need to somehow afford a car (which will be several thousands of dollars). just the thought is almost enough to paralyze me with fear. it's very very overwhelming. especially when nowhere in my small town wants to hire me. i have to do all of this before i can even consider moving out. i'm struggling to even keep myself alive, it's nearly impossible to save any money at all.

my commissions are pay-what-you-want, meaning you can pay however much you think the piece is worth, so that it's affordable for you and also helps me! if you can, please consider supporting me!! even a few dollars helps so much more than you know -- it's the difference between me being able to eat or not. also, please boost and reblog this post so that more people see it. thank you so much for reading <3

commission post p-yp-l c-sh-pp

[transgendz]

Emergency Commissions

I am the main provider of myself and two other disabled queer people, and I lost one of my jobs right before pride. One of my roommates needs a brain scan to diagnose what is either seizures or ministrokes, and her only means of making money for this are illegal and particularly risky. She is waiting on her disability ruling in the courts and has been fighting that case for well over two years because that's not unusual in our state. We will also probably need help with rent this month, but I'm not sure how much yet, so the initial goal is just for her brain scan. I have an interview today, and I've applied so more placed than I can count.

Dm me for proof or more details, she's sending me screenshots of her online medical center acct.

I will do art for anyone who helps her with this, and I sell finished pieces on my art blog @theartistrans Any help with this is deeply appreciated.

$C--V--PP--kofi

$0/$200

[shittysawtraps]

Hello, person who commissioned me,

You asked for a drawing of your cool OC at the start of the month with the instructions to take my time. You did not regularly reach out to me for updates, even though I posted wips of the progress and asked for feedback. After 10 days, you assumed I wasn't working on it and commissioned someone else. After an additional ten days, you asked for a refund despite the fact I was well over 70% done with the piece.

It seems like you don't appreciate the idea of open communication with your artist, so I'd like to play a game with you. This should be easy, since you are so confident in your ability to read minds.

Before you is a litany of art supplies, both traditional and digital. You must draw me a picture of my cool OC. The appropriate amount of money has been sent to your bank account to pay for the commission, and there are amenities in the room for you.

Take as much time as you need.

Despite saying you can take as much time as you need, I secretly want this picture completed by a specific time, unknown to you. When this time runs out, the chips I've surgically implanted into your retinas will begin to heat up, melting your eyeballs, and I will withdraw the money send to your account.

You have hours. Could be 2, could be 2000; I'm not telling you. Good luck.

[teaboot]

Yo, no hate, I totally get the confusion!

From the perspective of someone who isn't in the arts, this would seem pretty dumb, yeah? Offering someone money for work they already did, on a picture I already have access to, thay I could just ask someone to do on me for free, right?

Well, there are a few reasons:

As an artist myself, I know how hard it is to make a career out of art. Nobody wants to hire you, those who DO don't want to pay you, and it's so, so easy to have your ideas ripped off or stolen. I believe that by giving money to artists I appreciate, I can help them continue to exist and continue creating more.

I'm benefiting from their work. I love their art, and I want it on my body, and they put work into creating it, so shouldn't I compensate them? It'd be kind of unfair for them to put blood sweat and tears into a piece on for me to walk in and go, "mine now", right? If I hired the tattoo artist to design something for me, it would cost money. So why is it fair to rob the tattoo artist AND the original artist so I can save a buck? I've just cheated two different professionals.

By asking the original artist if it's okay to get their work, and if they'd like to charge for it, I'm giving them control over their own creations. Maybe it's a personal piece. Maybe it was a commission for someone else who doesn't want matching tattoos with an internet stranger. I'm letting them choose to say what happens to the art that they've made, and in an era of the internet and pinterest and AI theft, that's not something we all get to have anymore.

TL/DR: Asking permission and offering payment is a gesture of appreciation and respect that grants an artist the dignity and bargaining power they need to survive in an increasingly hostile environment.

Or,

Failing to adequately compensate individual artists and craftsmen for their labour has directly to the death of art and craft at large.